In my last blog I spoke about listening to the message from the Universe, or your higher being. One of the reoccurring message or word that has been coming up for me is “shift”. Shift has lots of different levels. For me, I could shift how I look at a problem in front of me; I could shift how I interact with another person; or I could look at how I shifted my career in the past six months.
For those that don’t know my story, I worked in IT (the technical world) for twenty-plus years. I was on paper a manager, but considered myself more of coach. In my career I worked and coached a number of wonderful people who not only was I able to help, but who taught me something new every day. In my spare time I taught two yoga classes a week and various workshops. There too I learned something new each time from those that came to share the space with me. It was at the yoga classes and workshops though that I felt had a more significant opportunity to serve others. Early in 2013 I began saying to others, “I am not looking to leave the company right now, but if I do I don’t think I will continue in IT”. I am well aware that what you put out into the Universe is heard. Just as the Universe gives us messages, we too present them. Later in that same year, I found myself at a crossroads. I had just left the job and I was now deciding whether or not to take the interviews offered to me, staying in IT, or leap into something where I could serve others in a greater fashion. This was a big struggle between my ego and my heart of wanting to have greater meaning in my life. The ego told me that I had a successful career: I was good at what I did; it paid well and it was what others expected of me; and what I expected of myself. My heart told me that there was more I could do to have meaning in my life in expanding how I currently served others. So there I stood at the crossroads. Do I stay on the easy, comfortable course of continuing my career as it was defined, or do I shift from the focus of my ego to what my heart really believed in?
Well as you may have guessed, I moved forward with my heart. A few short months later I saw a wonderful movie by Wayne Dyer called The Shift. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you do. In his movie, Wayne and the characters examine what is driven by the ego versus what provides meaning and purpose in ones’ life. What better a message from the Universe that I was on the right path?
I continue to grow and learn each day, and work to keep the ego from taking away from my true purpose. I was recently given an opportunity by the Universe to revisit the shift. I received a call about a potential IT job. And although the shift from “career” to purpose was big, I face each day other shifts as well. If I feel anxious that something might not go the way that was planned, I shift my perspective. If I instead look at it as everything will go as it is meant to and if it doesn’t goes as planned it will be ok, life is a whole lot more pleasant. The big shift for me is to not try to plan everything out, but to follow the messages I am given along the way and trust that I will be guided in the right direction.